| The clue train makes its regular rounds and for once Al-Guardian takes delivery. |
When he was overpowered, Abdulmutallab was said by witnesses to be "screaming about Afghanistan". Yet it would be a too convenient simplification to see this attack as some sort of act of revenge for that war. Abdulmutallab's life history, as it is now emerging, seems to be much more driven by exposure to manichean radical Islamism | Most Guardian readers are going to have to check their dictionaries to discover the meaning of Manichaean. The history of Christianity is not taught as it once was, even in British public schools. |
in Nigeria, Britain and, in particular, Yemen. The explosive chemicals and the syringe which he used on NW253 were sewn into his underclothing in Yemen. The methods used in Friday's attempted attack have echoes of a failed Yemeni-based suicide attack on Prince Muhammad, the head of Saudi counterterrorism operations, in August.
The Christmas airliner bomb plot did not take place because of western policy in Afghanistan. The west could withdraw tomorrow from Afghanistan and the continuing danger from jihadist terrorists would still be as great as it is today. |